Every year the Dominion cluster comes together for an evening to showcase all of their artistic talents, from traditional art classes to musical performances. Elmira Fazeli came away the big winner of the evening taking home First Place for her entire portfolio.
Students’ from elementary to high school’s creativity was on full display with Dominion’s theatre, wind symphony, and Seneca Ridge Middle’s and Horizon elementary’s choir performing in the auditorium, students’ artwork and strings performances were in the cafeteria and main hallway.
Along with Fazeli, Elly Nguyen placed second, Belen Tellez placed third, and Shilme Tabashum received an honorable mention for their artwork.
Frazeli’s main portfolio theme was a self portrait series with her as a cicada. “My own ‘A Metamorphosis’ series revolves around my life as well as my journey and battle with my insecurities and low self-esteem. As an immigrant from Ukraine and Iran, I have spent most of my childhood constantly moving and learning to adjust to new environments. My passion for art was not only a source of satisfaction and pleasure, but an escape for me throughout my life,” she said.
In addition to the artwork displayed, theatre performed the introduction of their spring play, Little Shop of Horrors. Performer Jemima Stephen explained, “Theatre is a way I can go on stage without being nervous, because you’re pretending to be something else, and all your fears kind of just go away, because you’re someone else, and you get to have fun with it.”
Frazeli emphasized the importance of art in both her life and in the world. “A lot of people undermine art as something kind of unserious or not really that important. But art is the showcase of our emotions and our soul, and I think it’s really important to basically let your feelings be expressed and also inspire other people, because art is the best form of expression and creativity,” she said.
For some students, Evening with the Arts was a way to demonstrate their growth throughout the past few years. Senior Rachel Haak said, “I did an oil pastel painting of my dog, and I really love that. I did one freshman year, but this is my redo again to see how well I’ve improved 3 years later.”
